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Maria Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger split: What's next for the family?

May 10, 2011 | 9:20
am

Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have announced their separation, what will become of their family life?

Shriver has moved out of the Brentwood home she shared with the former governor, the Los Angeles Times reported exclusively Monday. Married 25 years, the two have four children -- Katherine, 21; Christina, 19; Patrick, 17; and Christopher, 13.

"We are continuing to parent our four children together," Shriver and Schwarzenegger said in a statement Monday. "They are the light and the center of both of our lives. We consider this a private matter, and neither we nor any of our friends or family will have further comment."

Although it's unknown whether minors Patrick and Christopher have decamped with their mom, a recent interview with Patrick revealed the hands-on parenting Arnold and Maria are both accustomed to.

"He's home all the time now," Patrick told Details magazine in March, describing his dad's free schedule after stepping out of office.

The father-and-son team enjoy early breakfasts and bike rides to Venice Beach and may be developing a fitness-supplement drink together. As for quality time with Maria, Patrick recalls with fondness the annual August retreat to the Kennedy compound in Hyannis, Mass.

"It's the only time every single person is together: the Shrivers, the Schwarzeneggers, the Kennedys. Everyone," their eldest son said.

The split may have been a long time coming: Maria Shriver had reportedly been considering divorce for two years, a source told TMZ, with the deaths of her mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, in 2009 and her father, Sargent Shriver, in 2011 complicating her decision. (Uncle Ted Kennedy also died in 2009.)

Someone who reportedly spoke to Shriver said that, since she had moved to a hotel, the Terminator has been working hard to win back his estranged wife. "He could not be sweeter now that she's left him," one TMZ source said.

Posters on Maria Shriver's Facebook page Tuesday offered their support and in one case urged Shriver to "move to N.Y.C. get back to work with NBC and get your spirit back!" Shriver resigned from NBC, where she'd been a reporter for "Dateline," in 2003 after Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California and she took on the role of first lady.

In October 2003, shortly before Schwarzenegger's election victory, half a dozen women spoke to The Times about alleged unwanted sexual contact with him in studio offices and in other settings in the '80s, '90s and 2000. "Did he humiliate me?" one said in describing an alleged 1980 encounter with the action star. "You bet he did." The number of women speaking out ultimately climbed to 16, and the actor issued a blanket apology before the vote was held.

The drama continued after the election results were in, with the governor-elect stating in November that he would hire a private investigator to look into the allegations, then announcing in December that no such investigation was needed.

"After a great deal of thought, reflection, discussion and prayer, we came to this decision together," Shriver and Schwarzenegger said in their statement Monday. "At this time, we are living apart while we work on the future of our relationship."

So whether Arnold will be present at this August's Kennedy-compound clambake remains to be seen.

Photo: California's then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives with his wife, Maria Shriver, for the National Governors Assn. dinner held by President Obama at the White House in February 2009. Credit: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters